2. misc-audio
  3. 1045433241

Should reviewers post their hearing test results?

great thread by joshcloud 9 the other day, about hearing...
turns out i can't hear below 40 Hz, or above 16 kHz. not that i believe the results of a web-based audiogram are accurate, but merely suggestive.
it got me wondering though, these reviewers with "golden ears", what limitations do they have? i mean, we all lose some hearing with age, and noise exposure. so it'd be interesting to know, at least on a one-time basis or web site, just how sensitive these ears are that people trust.
i understand that the only ears that count eventually, are our own.
but imagine an art critic who is color-blind. it wouldn't mean he/she couldn't be a critic, just that those reviews would be, ahem, colored, by knowing whose eyes are examining the work.
otowick

Showing 3 responses by kr4ef94

kr4ef94
208 posts
 
You can hear below 40 and, mebbe, above 16kHz. It is normal to have elevated thresholds at the frequency extremes and you need a very low noise environment to measure at the extremes.

As for reviewers publishing their hearing test results, you would have to settle on a specific test and, even then, it would not necessarily be informative. Progressive loss of with age and/or exposure to high levels is common but is accompanied by adaptation. I have tested people with severe loss who still are quite acute in making audio distinctions.

Kal (who is color-blind but has published info on his hearing test results)
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
Possibly, some do not know or want to know.

BTW, neural adaptation probably compensates well for incomplete losses.
kr4ef94
208 posts
 
You wrote: "Well, Ernie, I am not an md or audiologist, but I wasnt aware there was much variance in hearing acuity between 100 hz and 10 khz."

It depends on what environmental noises they are exposed to. My wife is 15 years younger than I am and has more extended HF sensitivity BUT: She has a huge sensitivity dip between 3-4kHz because, I believe, she has taken the NYC subway to work for >20 years. Although some have advanced the idea that auditory haircells can regenerate, many people suffer suck-outs at specific frequencies if they have been exposed to high levels for a long time or extremely high levels for a short time.
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